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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    I'm asking if anybody has had the experience like the below or know folk who have.

    I wake up at night (or think I wake up), and the room looks normal except I see a thing in some corner of the room or near the wall or something like that. I have terrible vision without my glasses on, but the thing is in perfect acuity. It also doesn't seem to really fit in with the rest of the room, like it's in different colors, like a cartoon superimposed in a realistic setting, or kinda non-euclidean. Usually I look at it for a few moments, not really comprehending what I am seeing or realizing that it is strange, then I notice it is moving and get a feeling of terror. Then I generally either close my eyes or jolt completely awake, and the thing is gone. Tends to be hard to get back to sleep after the adrenaline rush with the jolting awake in terror.
    A few times I realize it is strange before the terror-jolt at it moving, and I look away or close my eyes. Sometimes if I look back it is still there, usually not. In those cases, I generally say a prayer and go back to sleep.

    Usually the thing looks demon-like (think a small imp or gargoyle), but one time a couple weeks ago it just looked like a small lady on a spinning wheel or something like that. At least one time when I realized it was strange before the terror-jolt occurred, it just looked like a weird box or lamppost (where I knew nothing was on the wall) though I had the idea it would unfurl to look like a creature if I kept looking.

    Probably happens a handful to a dozen or so times a year, generally in clumps (like every night for a few days, or a few times in a fortnight, then not again for months.) Sometimes happens just once then not again for a long time.

    I'm hoping for some folk here to say they've heard of 'waking dreams', since my other alternative is like a demon or some such.* The worst part (beyond the terror of the moment) is that once it happens one night, I sometimes have trouble getting to sleep the next night out of fear it'll happen again.

    *per forum rules, not intending to get into real world religion via potential supernatural aspect. I have talked to my priest should it be real, and I realize the existence of 'waking nightmares' does not preclude that this could be real. My main desire with this thread is to have some confirmation about potential non-realness so I can convince myself to go to sleep when I feel creeped out.

    I admit I don't like the idea of hallucinating, but in this case it is preferable.
    And sorry if writing this creeps anyone out.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Luz's Avatar

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    It's called Sleep Paralysis and is a lot more common than you think.

    Most, people are not able to move during the process but some only see.

    I have been plagued with this problem for years, now I'm even used to it.

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    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Sounds a little bit like sleep paralysis to me -- terrifying, but not uncommon. If you've ever seen one of those paintings where a demon is crouching over someone in bed, this is exactly what they're describing. Apparently, sleeping in a supine position increases the chance of sleep paralysis, so you might try changing your sleeping position during one of these "clumps."

    Edit: Ah, ninjas. Sneaky buggers.
    Last edited by Civis Mundi; 2017-07-12 at 01:36 PM.

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    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Yeah, sounds like sleep paralysis. Won't fault you for thinking a demon's haunting you or something, because that's exactly how it feels like. Just, the demon's inside your mind. Probably. I don't think the causes behind sleep paralysis, or dreaming in general, are fully known. So why exactly your brain is making these hyperrealistic nightmares, I couldn't say.
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    Ettin in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    I've heard of sleep paralysis -- and I admit it generally doesn't occur to me to try to move when this happens, so perhaps I can't -- but does something like a hallucination usually (or at least in some recorded cases) accompany sleep paralysis?

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Quote Originally Posted by JeenLeen View Post
    I've heard of sleep paralysis -- and I admit it generally doesn't occur to me to try to move when this happens, so perhaps I can't -- but does something like a hallucination usually (or at least in some recorded cases) accompany sleep paralysis?
    Yes, it's also called "old hag syndrome" since the old hag is the most common hallucination and the paralysis part is not present in some cases.

    But yeah you always see a bunch of weird stuff.

    The things I saw and can remember from the top of my head:
    -A "negative photo" version of Tweety, that spoke in R'lyehian.
    -A shadow person on my bedroom door.
    -A beautiful and angelic woman with many snakes for legs.
    -A faceless version of Nosferatu from the old movie(Black and white);
    -A small ugly and terrible old lady.
    -A raven with a top hat.
    -A talking rose with an eye in the middle.
    -A bunch of colorful scribbles in "inverted colors mode".
    -An white imp with horns and wings on top of me.

    And even the ones that didn't look so threaten or malevolent I couldn't help but feel a terrible dread around me.
    Last edited by Luz; 2017-07-12 at 02:36 PM.

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    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    You can have sleep paralysis with and without hallucinations.

    My fits of sleep paralysis typically feel like I'm waking up, but my body feels heavy and numb. I struggle and struggle to move myself, but whenever it feels like I've moved, next instant I realize my body is still firmly in place. Sometimes this feels actively painful and the pain going away is the first sign I'm waking up for reals.

    Hallucinations are layered upon this feeling if I begin drifting further into sleep. Auditory hallucinations used to be most common. Namely, ordinary noises from the environment would become amplified and distorted. For example, the sound of the neighbour's dog moving in the stairs might begin to sound like the dog actually came through the door and is now circling my bed (with me being unable to turn my head to see if it's really there, and unable to get up to see if I closed the door).

    Visual hallucinations might be similarly based on distorted objects in your line of sight. A pile of clothes might appear to be a person and start moving like a person. I'm not sure if there are any limits to the sort of hallucinations you could suffer or what might trigger them. I don't think the science on this is complete. However, my rule of thumb is: anything you could feel awake, you can feel while dreaming, and then some. Sounds, visions, smells, pressure, pain, movement, hunger, bugs crawling under your skin, plants growing inside your head, all are possible. It's the all-natural equivalent of a bad acid trip.
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Sometimes. From what I've read, some portions of your vision aren't working properly, though you are technically "awake." Human brains are very adept at filling in missing information, whether it's text or pictures or vision. So it just supplies an image that would kind of make sense.

    I've seen some convincing arguments that this might actually be the original source of the stories about succubi and incubi. (One of the other common symptoms of sleep paralysis is that the whole genital region is one of the "awake" parts of the body). People saw (or rather, didn't see) a big blotch right in front of them, got startled, and their brain provided an image of a demon attacking them as something that might reasonably fit in that kind of situation. Nowadays there are fewer people who think that "demon" is a valid explanation for anything. But you still see similar stories about alien abduction. The people who claim the experiences are usually pretty insistent that it actually happened to them. And in a sense, they're right: they were actually awake, their eyes were actually seeing what they were describing, and their brain did actually interpret the stimuli to produce the (understandably frightening) image they're remembering.

    Personally, I had one episode of sleep paralysis when I was a kid. The "blotch" was on my wall - I thought it was a pile of black ooze spreading out, and is probably still the creepiest thing I've ever experienced. My parents thought it was just a really realistic nightmare. But when I was in college, I found out about sleep paralysis, and was completely sure that's what it was. A couple of years ago, my daughter had a similar experience; she saw it as a "piggy shadow" that scared the pants off her. I was able to help her out right away, since I knew exactly how real she thought it was. I was around 5 years old, and my daughter was around 4, and we both still remember the experiences extremely clearly. So, yeah, they make a pretty big impression.

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Telonius, as noted, the hallucinations aren't limited to sight.

    It is possible to see a person-like thing, hear it talk to you, feel as it climbs on to your bed and feel as it grasps you, all while unable to move.

    And then it's gone when you finally properly wake up.

    If you don't know what sleep paralysis is, it's really no wonder if you come out of it believing in ghosts, demons or aliens.
    "It's the fate of all things under the sky,
    to grow old and wither and die."

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    And smell too! Oh gods the smell!

    I remember the first time I had an auditory one was when I heard steps going down the stair. But my house doesn't have stairs.

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Quote Originally Posted by Telonius View Post
    Sometimes. From what I've read, some portions of your vision aren't working properly, though you are technically "awake." Human brains are very adept at filling in missing information, whether it's text or pictures or vision. So it just supplies an image that would kind of make sense.
    Sometimes, especially at night, I get flashes of white light. (I've had it looked at in case of detached retinas and other serious issues. Seems I'm at risk for such, but okay.) I could see that potentially being linked with my vision not working 100% and visual hallucinations being more likely.

    I'm really glad I never had any based on sound, smell, or touch. That sounds especially creepy!

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    BlackDragon

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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    I once had this happen to me when I was quite young--I awoke in the middle of the night, unable to move, and convinced I could hear bacon frying somewhere. Never ever had it happen again, though, so no idea what the trigger was that one time...

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    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    I've had this happen to me before, once in my college dorm room I saw the specter of death floating above my bed. Skeleton in a shroud just floating there. I couldn't move. Thankfully I knew about sleep paralysis and saw it more clinically than frightening. Very weird experience, and I know I wasn't in a good headspace at the time, either.

    Also, had it happen where I woke up but couldn't move. I forced it, though, not knowing then what was going on, and got the worst headache just trying to move my arm.

    More recently I have dreams of waking up and talking to my parents, except I'll wake up again and know it was all false. Oh, and the dragon sitting in the corner of the room while I chatted with dad the last time was a pretty big clue too.

    Might I suggest training yourself to Lucid dream? I'm not sure how well it works for sleep paralysis, but for nightmares, realizing that you're dreaming and being able to stop or control what's going on is very useful.
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    Colossus in the Playground
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Yup, sleep paralysis. Seeing or feeling some sort of malevolent "presence" or "figure" is fairly common with it.
    My ex used to get it sometimes. Once I woke up to him sort of twitching and making little noises in his sleep. I thought he was having a nightmare, so I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't. I ended up almost violently shaking him before he finally snapped out of it. He told me that he'd been conscious the whole time but couldn't move, and the little noises were him trying to ask me to wake him up. He also said that while it was happening, there was some dark malevolent figure standing in the corner of the room, watching us.
    I think I've had it a couple of times in recent years, too, though not normally with the terror attached.

    Fun fact! They think this is where the ideas of succubi and incubi come from, and in more recent times alien abductions. The alien one gets particularly interesting: there's a hypothesis that the "big head, big eyes, tiny mouth, tiny nose, grey skin" alien image is sort of like the "proto-face" template that we're born with, so we can recognise faces when we're babies. When you have an episode of sleep paralysis and you have this overwhelming sense of something or someone standing over you, your brain scrambles to see something, anything, in that spot, and so it dredges up this "proto-face" to fill the space. Et voila, aliums.

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    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Quote Originally Posted by factotum View Post
    I once had this happen to me when I was quite young--I awoke in the middle of the night, unable to move, and convinced I could hear bacon frying somewhere. Never ever had it happen again, though, so no idea what the trigger was that one time...
    I can't say much about sleep paralysis since I'm lucky enough not to have them, but this one case seems interesting. Is it possible that this was simply a wrong association in a state of half-sleep? Apparently the sound of frying bacon is similar enough to the sound of rain that they use it frequently in movies as a sound for rain. In your case it might have been the other way around?
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    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Hmm. I have not had this, exactly, but definitely some wacky sleep-phenomena . . . I'd be completely sure that I was awake but see tiny people floating through the air, though more common would be voices. Music. Operas or symphonies that were truly beautiful and I'd never heard before - never heard them since, either. The occasional war chant or whisper, and those were terrifying. Every so often, I'd get the auditory hallucinations while fully awake, though there was always a certain quality to the sound that told me I wasn't actually hearing it.

    They could be dispelled. Whenever it was a visual thing, I'd wave my hand through it (easy, since they were floating gnomes and pixies as opposed to demon-like creatures) and that would effectively prove to me that nothing was there. Then I'd try to go to sleep, and often succeed. (When I was hearing things, well, most of the time it was beautiful so I just listened until it got creepy. Then I'd cover my ears, which I suppose convinced my brain that there was nothing to hear.)

    I got my strangenesses most often while drifting, trying and failing to fall asleep. So I started drinking a relaxing tea, which puts me to sleep fast enough that I don't have a chance to see or hear anything weird. I haven't been bothered by the . . . whatevers . . . for about four years, even though I've been having quite a bit of trouble sleeping lately. So try some kind of sedative, maybe?

    Anyway, your hallucinations sound very upsetting but do hang in there, and I'll be saying a prayer for you. I wish I could offer you more advice than "don't worry too much and drink some chamomile tea."

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    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Default Re: half-dream/nightmare hallucinations?

    Quote Originally Posted by Telonius View Post
    A couple of years ago, my daughter had a similar experience; she saw it as a "piggy shadow" that scared the pants off her. I was able to help her out right away, since I knew exactly how real she thought it was. I was around 5 years old, and my daughter was around 4, and we both still remember the experiences extremely clearly. So, yeah, they make a pretty big impression.
    When my daughter was around 4, she was absolutely sure that Swiper the fox from "Dora the Explorer" had come in her room to get her. Scared the living crap out of her. At first we thought it was a dream, but after looking into it a bit more we realized it was one of these experiences.

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